As for protection, they didn’t seem to have much in the way of armor. A weird metal-looking loincloth was wrapped tightly around their waists, and there was a grotesque necklace of what appeared to be desiccated body parts such as ears, noses, and even fingers strung up on a leather loop. Other than that, they were essentially naked, not even wearing boots to cover up their odd three-toed feet. That didn’t seem to matter to them, however, at least from what she was witnessing; none of the Raiders managed to break through the barrage of weapons coming from the 5…monsters…to land a blow upon them.
The closest to actually do any damage was the Clan representative who was in charge of organization on the mountain. Tacca didn’t know her name or much about her, as she never actually entered her dungeon, but the Core thought she was a high-level Caster of some sort. That proved to be accurate, as she reacted immediately to the obviously sudden assault—where did they even come from?—by tossing out spell after spell. Fireballs as big around as her head were flung out after they formed between her hands, sharp chunks of stone materialized from above and plummeted onto the heads of the blue-skinned monsters, and even lightning crackled over her head before shooting out in a sudden arc.
Sadly, even the powerful and high-level Elementalist couldn’t do anything against the frightening behemoths; the results of her spells connected with the six-armed monsters, but a glow enveloped the enemy upon impact. What the glow was exactly was hard to tell, because it almost appeared to be some sort of enchantment that negated the damage entirely. However, after seeing them actually stagger slightly with each spell, it was almost as if the glow was absorbing the energy of the impact.
Regardless of what exactly was happening, the overall effect was the same: The blue-skinned monsters were taking absolutely no damage. It didn’t take long before even the Elementalist was taken down, neatly bisected lengthwise as an axe-head slammed down on her head with such force that it cut through her entire body and buried itself a few inches into the stone of the mountainside. Once she and the others were dead, they all ran towards her dungeon entrance with long strides that ate up the distance within seconds.
As the very last monstrous entity passed through her dungeon entrance, she couldn’t help but notice that the last one appeared slightly different than the others. For one, it was a little darker in color than the vibrant blue of the others – nearly purple, in fact. Secondly, it had an odd metal object strapped to it, held in place by a weirdly flexible strip of a different kind of metal that wrapped around its chest and back, looping over its right shoulder. Again, whatever it was exactly was a mystery, but she could feel a change come over her entire domain precisely when the object passed over her entrance threshold.
It didn’t take long to discover what that change was. Hurry, Shale; they are inside already. And whatever it is they are, there is now something preventing my Dungeon Force from regenerating.
“What? That…that isn’t possible,” Shale responded. Even his mental voice seemed out of breath as he raced towards her Core Room down below.
As impossible as your not being able to Translocate? Tacca was just glad that communicating with her wasn’t an Ability that Shale had to activate, but instead was a natural part of their Bond.
Her Dungeon Assistant was silent for a few seconds before he said, “Good point. What are they doing now?”
The six-armed, blue-skinned monsters were quite tall and wide, and they had needed to crouch and pull in their arms tight to their bodies in order to fit through her tunnel; once they were free of the enclosed space, they ran through the first room, crushing any foliage in their path as they went, before entering the tunnel leading the second room. Curiously, and potentially a serious problem, when Tacca tried to look past the last in line with the strange metal object strapped to its chest, her view of her own dungeon behind it was faded and extremely dim. It was almost as if whatever had stopped her Dungeon Force regeneration was also making her ability to affect her dungeon shrink as well. She could feel that she could still create creatures and place traps – and possibly even do some construction – in her other rooms, but she doubted she could do anything anywhere that had already been visited by these invaders.
This was confirmed moments later when the group passed through the second tunnel and the Dungeon Core tried to restock the Root Foxes in the first room – and it was as if the entire room wasn’t even there for her anymore. She couldn’t restock her creatures, nor absorb and move any of her Environmental Objects, and she couldn’t place any new traps – the room was essentially cut off from her manipulation so completely that it was as if it didn’t exist to her.
They’re running through the second room right now, and they just triggered the Rage Enchantment trap that was bypassed by those Merchant Raiders—and it did nothing. Similar to the spells I saw flung out by the Clan rep outside, the monstrous thing’s body in the lead just flared up with a glow, and that was it.
That wasn’t good; while not powerful in comparison to some of her other traps, the fact that her Enchantment trap seemed to have absolutely no effect on the invaders didn’t bode well for her other defenses. It was then that her world seemed to stop as she contemplated a decision that could have dire consequences even if it succeeded. Do I dare? Is there any other choice? Yes, there was; there appeared to be two choices for Tacca: die or die spectacularly. Seeing how powerful these monsters were, there didn’t seem to be any other conclusion. Therefore, she initiated a plan that she thought would work to destroy them, with a sliver of a chance of her surviving as well – but she wasn’t holding out much hope.
They’re almost to the third room already. The Merchant Raiders have now heard something behind them, and they’ve turned towards the tunnel. Let me listen in.
“What is that? Is it another group? They shouldn’t be entering so soon after we start—WHAT IS THAT?!” the Fighter in the group, a steel-plated Human, shouted at the appearance of one of the blue-skinned monsters as it emerged from the tunnel. He barely got his puny-in-comparison sword up in time to block an overhead swing of an axe, but his strength was obviously much less than the massive arm wielding the double-bladed weapon. His sword shattered upon impact and the axe continued downwards, slicing through the Human’s armor like it was paper – along with a 3-inch-deep wound that sliced him up from sternum to hip. The Merchant Fighter didn’t even have a chance to scream as the sword wielded by the same blue monster decapitated him in one smooth motion, before moving past him to attack one of the other Raiders.
They were so shocked at the sudden appearance of the deadly invaders that they barely even raised their weapons before they were cut apart or smashed to a bloody mess by a mace or warhammer. In less than 10 seconds, all 5 of the Merchant Raiders were dead or dying – all from the singular six-armed monster that emerged into the room first.
Not that she expected them to put up much of a fight; it was more than obvious that not only were the Raiders outmatched, but that Tacca and her dungeon were, too. By the time they arrived at the fifth room – as the fourth was of no consequence, since the Healing Paralysis trap there didn’t even activate, since none of them were obviously hurt – it was plain to see that her creatures were going to be even less effective than the Raiders. Her Forest Wolves attacked and were immediately cut down, either in mid-leap or as they approached – and the insanely powerful monsters didn’t even break stride as they progressed.
She had some hope that her Pit trap would work as the one in the lead triggered the collapse of the thin soil above the spikes. The blue-skinned monstrosity fell down a few feet…and then a glow enveloped its body and it floated back up and to the side of the pit, before being put down gently. How? I’ve never heard of something like that except for a few spells that Raiders are capable of casting; Levitation and Featherfall are two that might be able to achieve that, but I can’t think of any enchanting scrolls that would impart that exact effect.
Shale finally arrived at her Core Room after spe
eding through the rest of her dungeon rooms, out of breath and appearing extremely nervous. “Tacca…what can we do? Is anything having an effect on…whatever these things are?”
Unfortunately, no. Not even the Pit traps were effective, because of that same glowing effect I saw earlier. Tacca hesitated for a moment before she continued, albeit hesitantly. I have a plan…of sorts, but it’s going to need some time to pull off.
“Ok, what do you need me to do?”
That’s the thing; this is going to be extremely dangerous and I don’t even know if either of us will survive. If you like, I can sever the Bond between us and you can escape after these things pass through one of these larger rooms down here, where you should be able to stay far enough away from them to escape the way they came.
“No, I’m not going to leave you alone here. Besides, I haven’t been Bonded with you for more than a year, so it won’t kill me…if the worst was to happen,” he said sternly, obviously resolved to stick it out no matter what. “Now, what’s your plan, and what do you need me to do?”
If you’re determined to stay, then we’ve both got to get to work – no time to explain in detail. What I need from you is to act as a distraction to delay these things from reaching my Core Room too quickly. Do you think you can do that?
“Well…sure, but how am I supposed to prevent them from coming straight here—oh. Alright, I’m on it.”
Luckily, her Dungeon Assistant seemed to understand at least a little of the plan. Tacca used some of her dwindling supply of Dungeon Force to activate and seal enough of her lower tunnels to create a pathway that wound through nearly every single room before it arrived at her empty Boss Room – and from there to her Core Room. She was thankful that Shale decided to stay and help out, because even with the winding route, the six-armed warrior monsters would arrive before she was ready. It put him in extreme danger, of course, but that was his decision – and it was one for which she was proud of him; she couldn’t help but think how much he had changed from when she had first met him. The old Dungeon Assistant in him who had been prejudiced against Tacca and her “bad luck” would have jumped at the first chance to escape.
Is this more of my bad luck coming back to haunt me? It’s almost as if the world is punishing me for having it too good for a couple of months, and now I have to pay for it.
“That’s not true, Tacca. I think most of your bad luck disappeared when you were sucked into that Core,” Shale abruptly said as he again flew through her dungeon, though this time with another purpose. Tacca had forgotten to shield her thoughts, and she didn’t realize she had broadcasted her insecurities to her Dungeon Assistant.
Thanks, Shale – but I can’t say I believe that with what’s going on right now.
The unwelcome intruders were just now blowing through her Boss Room in her easy section, and even with the additional creatures she had in there, they barely paused to slaughter her defenders before moving on. One of her Root Foxes actually managed to sneak up on one of the monsters and bite its lower left leg from behind—but its teeth failed to penetrate the tough skin of the deadly fighter. It was cut in half soon after by a casual slice of a massive sword, and none of the others even got close.
Now was the chance to see what the traps she still had in her old Core Room would do – though she doubted they would do much, unfortunately. The Merchants that had come to destroy her months ago had been heavily enchanted against them, and she had a feeling that whatever this glow seemed to be that surrounded each of these monsters would act similarly.
When they walked in, the extra-deep Pit trap opened up underneath the lead invader, who dropped at least 10 feet down before the glow enveloped it. She watched as the blue-skinned monster was levitated upwards and deposited gently to the side – where the three blades shot out from the wall and impacted the figure. Just like those Core-hunting Merchants, the monster was protected by the glow, but it also suffered from the impact; it was knocked away, stumbling into where the Earth-based trap was located, and sharp boulders dropped from the ceiling onto its head.
Tacca could see that the boulders made the glow around the six-armed monster start to fade a little as it was hit multiple times. While it didn’t disappear completely, the Dungeon Core saw the invader knocked around more than she would’ve expected had it been glowing brightly. When the trap ended, she saw that there was still no damage to the monster, unfortunately – though it did delay the rest as they easily jumped over the Pit trap and unburied their comrade. Other than looking a little rattled – which she only assumed as the monster escaped the trap and shook its head a few times as if to clear it – the trap didn’t really do much to her invaders.
She had some hopes for the Death-based trap that one of the others ran into as they progressed through the room, but again nothing happened other than a super bright glow like a mystical aura surrounding the monster. With that unsuccessful, Tacca didn’t have any other serious defenses until they traveled closer to her Core Room.
When they arrived at the next room, which was the official start of her new section, they paused for the first time since they arrived at her dungeon.
Shale! Just be aware, these blue-skinned monsters are more intelligent than I expected.
Tacca looked at his location, which was currently two rooms away from where the monsters were. “What do you mean?” he asked, stopping at the same time.
I thought at first that they were just mindless killers, with the way they just charged ahead without regard to their own safety and slaughtering everything in their path. I was wrong; from what I can tell, they are having an argument about where they need to go.
“What – like hand movements or something?” Tacca watched them for a few moments before she responded.
No, they are talking to each other. Or more like yelling with their volume, but they are having a conversation. These are intelligent people, Shale.
“What are they saying?”
I have no idea; it’s no language that I recognize, and I’m fairly sure I learned about every language still in use today at DAPS – in addition to a variety of dead languages. This sounds a little familiar, but I can’t place it or understand it all.
“You…studied some dead languages?” He sounded incredulous.
Yes, there were some old tomes I needed to translate—but that’s not important right now. It looks as though the almost-purple-colored one has made a decision for the group. That’s strange…it closed its eyes for a moment and then pointed directly towards the correct tunnel. I think that at least that one can sense my Core somehow; now I know for sure why they are here.
“Like you didn’t before?”
Not entirely; I…guess it’s good to have confirmation? It wasn’t really good to know that these things were there to destroy her – or so she assumed – but it at least ruled out any other reasons.
The monstrous people took the tunnel leading off to their left, which led to one of the only rooms that was actually finished. The “cliff” and the path leading up it were primed and ready to go, and she watched the 5 intruders start their way up it with no hesitation. Because of their large size, they had to turn sideways in order to make it up the narrow pathway, which thankfully slowed them down even further. Her Dizziness trap was set off when they were about two-thirds of the way up the cliff, which caused all of their bodies to glow brightly; the trap, while it had a narrow Trigger Proximity, had a large Activation Range which enveloped them all. Not that it seemed to do any good, despite the trap’s Strength being a little more than double compared to what was located in the easy section above.
Her Cliff Lynxes attacked from where they were camouflaged against the rock of the cliff, jumping down in a tandem attack that allowed them to land on the heads of four of the six-armed monsters. There were some impressive roars that emerged from the throats of the invaders as they dropped one of their weapons to grab at the Lynxes – which Shale heard in the next room.
“What was THAT?”
he asked, startled.
Just my Lynxes surprising them from above—and now they all just got grabbed and tossed away with enormous strength. Let’s just say their superior agility on the side of a cliff doesn’t really apply to flying into a solid, immovable wall at bone-crunching speed. To top it all off, none of these blue-skinned people even appear scratched.
They appeared to be quite annoyed, but were also entirely unhurt despite the Level 5 Cliff Lynxes getting the literal drop on them and doing their best to scratch the enormous black orbs they called eyes out. It was almost like they were impervious to damage, as even the typically vulnerable parts of a body didn’t acquire even the tiniest injury.
One of the monsters had dropped their warhammer down the cliff when they were trying to remove the Lynx, but they left it there as they continued unhindered up the cliff. When they quickly reached the top, instead of following the path down, they all jumped off the top as if it were nothing. When they hit the bottom, their glowing auras flashed again briefly as they landed in a crouch; Tacca heard and saw cracks form under their feet, spiderwebbing together to create a large section that was basically just rubble now. That stone is extremely difficult to break – which makes it ideal to protect a dungeon’s rooms with. To be able to do that to it…we could be in trouble, Shale.
Tacca described what had happened to him quickly, but her Dungeon Assistant was already focused on his positioning in the next room. This one she had finished filling with an environment, but had only placed two creatures inside sort of as an indication of what she wanted in there once she had enough Control Limit to fully stock her new section.
Despite there being two possible tunnels to choose from at the bottom of the cliff, the blue-skinned invaders again chose the correct one with just a moment’s hesitation, which led to where Shale was waiting for them. When the six-armed monsters arrived at the room, they were greeted by two hills made entirely of a multi-shaded brown rock that flanked the left and right walls; in between the rock hills was a “valley” of sorts that was filled with trees stretching halfway up to the tall ceiling and set relatively close together. There was a tunnel leading to the next room at the end of the valley and off to the right; directly off to the left – as soon as they entered – was a bare wall that contained the Rotating Stone Bridge that let out into the exit staircase.
The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) Page 29
